I was writing about food that I would like to eat when I get back to Singapore when I went tangential and started writing about Singaporean food in Brisbane. So I thought I would start a new post instead.
I have been on the hunt for good food ever since I came to Brisbane but the results have been quite dismay. Papparich (https://www.papparich.net.au/) is not too bad, and while it is technically Malaysian cuisine, it is as close as it gets to Singaporean food. They did advertise Char Kway Teow with cockles, but they seem to have ran out those delicious shellfish for quite a while.
Taste of Penang (https://www.facebook.com/TasteOfPenangStLucia/) is also not bad, and they have pretty good Char Kway Teow as well, with that awesome “Wok Hei” and spiciness. If they could somehow add cockles to it, it would have been perfect.
Before I forget, there is another Malaysian restaurant called Roti Place (https://rotiplace.com.au/). I found this place when it set up a stall at one of those night markets featuring Singaporean food in Brisbane. What came as a bigger surprise when I visited the restaurant with my parents, was that they served Singapore Chilli Crab! The sauce was really sedap, and it was finger licking good (no, it’s not KFC).
Another place that is worth mentioning is Dapur Dahlia (https://www.facebook.com/Dapur-Dahlia-153843991346188/). It serves authentic Malay food and tastes a lot like home cook food – or at least the ones that you’d find in a Singapore food centre. This is probably the closest I can get to “Singaporean food”, even though it is technically just a subset of what Singaporean food is.
If you are after some Tze Char, Satay Ria (http://satayria.com.au/) in the valley (colloquial for Fortitude Valley in Brisbane) offers some pretty familiar dishes like Cereal Prawn (Butter Oats King Prawns), Sweet and Sour Pork and Belacan Kangkong; and they taste pretty much like the real deal too!
A place that I found again accidentally (and literally the first Singaporean-Malaysian restaurant I had been to) was Malaya Corner (http://malayacorner.com.au/). I recall being brought there by a senior when I first landed in Brisbane. Sometime ago, I found out that their Singapore Noodles (I had never figured out what the real Singapore Noodles really is) is actually pretty authentic Fried Bee Hoon. So, if you are missing some Singaporean Fried Bee Hoon, this is the place to go to. I am sure they have other delicious food, but I hadn’t had the chance to try the rest. Yet.
If you are after some good Char Siew or BBQ pork rice, Golden Barbeque (https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Restaurant_Review-g255068-d799059-Reviews-Golden_Barbeque-Brisbane_Brisbane_Region_Queensland.html) at the valley in Brisbane City is the place to go to. Besides that, they serve pretty awesome wanton noodles with Char Siew too! And once you are done with your meals, you can even shop at the asian supermarket – Yuen’s Market, next door, for all your Singaporean snack cravings!
Ironically, I did find Little Singapore Brisbane City, now Singapore & Co Brisbane City (https://www.facebook.com/SingaporeAndCoBrisbane/) quite disappointing. While they serve quite a variety of Singaporean food, I find that they had adapted too much to the local taste and had lost the authenticity of the Singaporean taste. On the other hand, I did find the Sunnybank outlet (https://www.facebook.com/SingaporeAndCoSunnybank/) pretty good. Particularly, I found their duck rice and BBQ pork and Char Siew rice quite palatable.
If you would like to steer a little away from native Singaporean food to have some Dim Sum (colloquially known as Yum Cha), then Landmark Restaurant (https://www.facebook.com/LM.Restaurant/) is your go-to place. They do serve most of the usual Dim Sum that you would expect at a Chinese restaurant, but be forewarned – their portions are really huge; like, physically huge! The waiters and waitresses do speak English, Chinese and Cantonese – pretty much what you can expect from a typical Cantonese Dim Sum restaurant.
The last item I would like to introduce isn’t quite a “Singaporean food” place as per se, but if you are a big fan of silky soya bean curd, then you should give Just Soy Cafe (https://www.yelp.com.au/biz/just-soy-cafe-sunnybank-hills-2) a try. The soya bean curd is really soft and melts in your mouth, and there is no powdery aftertaste. You can try it plain, or have other toppings on it too. I like mine with peanuts.
I am always on the hunt for good Singaporean (and Malaysian) food. Should I find enough restaurants to make up another list, I’ll be sure to write another post about it. Better still, if you are in Brisbane and you know some pretty good places, do drop me a comment and let me know! 🙂